


doleo

by handydandynotebook



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Not Happy, Strained Relationships, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27917227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/handydandynotebook/pseuds/handydandynotebook
Summary: It’s hovering around two in the morning as Susan scrubs the bathroom from top to bottom. The thin plastic handle of the scrub brush she’s using snaps in the middle in her vigorous attempt to get the gunk out from the gap where the faucet meets the ceramic. She chews her lip and slips off to the kitchen to get a new one, and this is when the front door creaks open.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Susan Hargrove
Comments: 14
Kudos: 24





	doleo

**Author's Note:**

> i think of susan as having smth of an anxious oral fixation.

Susan can’t sleep so she cleans instead. She had the nerve to correct Neil’s pronunciation of diverticulitis over dinner and that wasn’t smart, wasn’t smart at all. He didn’t do any more than glare but he doesn’t have to. It’s been hours since but she’s still on edge, can’t even think of lying beside him, let alone sleeping, so she focuses on straightening up the house. 

It’s hovering around two in the morning as she scrubs the bathroom from top to bottom. The thin plastic handle of the scrub brush she’s using snaps in the middle in her vigorous attempt to get the gunk out from the gap where the faucet meets the ceramic. She chews her lip and slips off to the kitchen to get a new one, and this is when the front door creaks open. 

It’s not a particularly unusual time for Billy to come home. The unusual part is that it doesn’t sound like he’s alone. Susan hears two sets of steps and the murmur of another unfamiliar voice. Wary and a little bit curious, she winds her way into the living room. 

A young man she doesn’t know keeps a leaning Billy upright, lips curving into a tired smile when he meets her eyes. 

“Hi, Mrs. Hargrove. Our Keg King, uh, overdid it a little. I took his keys.” 

“Harrington here is a real standup guy,” Billy jeers, tightening his arm around the kid’s neck. “My noble hero.” 

He presses a sloppy, mocking kiss to his cheek and abruptly shoves him away with a force that sends the both of them stumbling. Harrington catches himself pretty easily. Billy staggers, drunk as a skunk. It looks like he’s going to knock into the lamp and Susan hurries across the carpet in mild panic, grabbing him up before he can. 

“Um, thank you, Mr. Harrington,” Susan murmurs, flashing him a grateful look above an armful of Billy. “I’ve got it from here.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Mhm.” 

He hangs the Camaro keys up on the hook. Politely nods to Susan and takes his exit. 

“Ugh, you smell like vinegar,” Billy slurs right into her ear. 

“Uh-huh, what do you think you smell like?” Susan snipes before she can stop herself. She’s overtired and her nerves are fried. “I’ve half a mind to hose you down.” 

“Ohoho, get a load of you.” Billy laughs and it’s an ugly thing. “Susie showing her teeth. But will she really bite?” 

She won’t. They both know she won’t. She just swallows and loops her arm through his. 

“Come on. It’s bedtime.” 

“Says you,” he grumbles. 

He rolls his eyes but doesn’t actually fight as she steers him to his room. He flops onto the mattress face-first. 

“You’re going to sleep in your clothes?” 

Billy picks up his arm and flips her the bird, middle finger high in the air. 

“…okay, well you should at least take your shoes off.” 

Billy doesn’t move an inch. Susan nibbles her thumbnail. She should probably just leave him be, shouldn’t push her luck with him. She already pushed her luck with Neil, she doesn’t need to be in the red with two Hargrove men. Against her better judgement, Susan bends down and tugs off one scuffed up motorcycle boot and then the other. She straightens up and Billy’s got one eye cracked open, peeking at her through a bleary slit. 

“Don’t get any funny ideas, thinking you’re mother of the year or something, just ‘cause I let you do that. Next time I’ll kick you.” 

“Next time,” Susan repeats. “So there’s going to be a next time. Keep going like this and you’re going to have cirrhosis in your thirties.” 

Susan shuffles to the door and behind her, so soft she knows she isn’t actually being spoken to, she hears Billy slur into the pillow. 

“Like I’m gonna make it to thirty.” 

Susan shuts the door and slinks off to the bathroom. Mist stings her eyes. It might have nothing to do with the sudden pressure in her chest. Might just be the white vinegar and dish soap concoction sitting in the sink. She realizes she forgot to grab a new scrub brush and pinches the skin of her knuckle between her teeth. 


End file.
